Garuda is safe, says Soepandi

Garuda is safe, says Soepandi

FUKUOKA, Japan (Agencies): Garuda Indonesia's President
Soepandi yesterday defended the airline's safety record after a
fiery DC-10 crash, but promised more Japanese-speaking
stewardesses after complaints about evacuation procedures.

Soepandi, who flew in yesterday to handle the crisis, said
Garuda had had no accident on flights between Japan and Indonesia
for 33 years, Reuters reported.

Investigators of the takeoff crash of the DC-10, packed with
mainly Japanese holidaymakers, said they would focus on engine
trouble as a possible cause.

The airliner, bound for Denpasar and Jakarta with 275 people
aboard, crashed on takeoff from Fukuoka airport on Thursday,
killing three passengers and injuring 110.

Police identified the dead as Masakatsu Okuda, 68, Koichi
Imamura, 39, and Masatoshi Yoshida, 44, all of Fukuoka. Of the
260 passengers aboard, 256 were Japanese, two Indonesian, one
North Korean and one South Korean.

Indonesia's Ambassador to Japan Wisber Loeis expressed regret
over the accident, Kyodo reported.

The ambassador said in a statement that he wishes "to express
the deepest concern and sympathy to the passengers who have
suffered from loss and injuries".

Meanwhile, police raided the local Garuda office yesterday on
suspicion that the deaths and injuries in the crash resulted from
"professional negligence", police spokesman Hisaya Takahara said.

Police also seized documents at Garuda's operation office at
the airport without specifying possible suspects in the case.

The investigators were keen to know why pilot Ronald Longdong,
38, had to halt the takeoff even though there was little room
left for such a maneuver on the runway, press reports said.

The DC-10 is powered by three engines, one on each wing and
the third on the rear fin.

"The engine was in good condition when it left Jakarta. That
fact is proved as the craft flew smoothly to Fukuoka," Soepandi
said after visiting the crash site.

"There are GE (General Electric Co.) technicians working with
us at Garuda, so we couldn't have missed an improvement in the
engines," he told a news conference.

Indonesian Director General for Air Transportation Zainudin
Sikado also came with Soepandi to lead the investigation.

A team of six U.S. officials were to arrive today to join in
the investigations, Japanese transport officials said.

Fukuoka police said one Garuda flight attendant had told them
that the starboard engine caught fire just after takeoff.

"Engine number three (the starboard engine) was on fire as
soon as the plane left the ground," police quoted the
unidentified flight attendant as saying. "The pilot applied
emergency brakes but it was too late."

Police said they had not finished hearing from the passengers
and crew and had not reached any conclusion. Earlier, police and
passengers said the port engine had caught fire. The rear engine
also had an unexplained gaping hole.

"Yes we will pay attention to reports of a possible engine
failure," said Yoshiro Nakatsuji, head of the Japanese Transport
Ministry's Airplane Accident Investigation Committee.

Nakatsuji said the Digital Data Flight Recorder and the
Cockpit Voice Recorder -- the "black boxes" -- had been retrieved
from the aircraft and sent to the Transport Ministry in Tokyo for
analysis.

Passengers said they had fled flames engulfing the fuselage in
near panic. Some accused flight attendants of not guiding them
safely out through emergency chutes.

Soepandi vowed to increase the number of Japanese-speaking
flight attendants to fend off criticism from some survivors of
confusion during the evacuation. "Garuda will increase the number
of flight attendants who can speak Japanese."

The aircraft's chief steward earlier acknowledged that he
could not warn Japanese passengers of trouble because he did not
speak their language.

Chanisan Hisyan gave an account of the nightmare-like scene in
the cabin -- luggage flying around, smoke cutting visibility to
near zero and most passengers unaware of what was happening.

"I could only give the warning of what was happening in
English and Indonesian," Hisyan told a news conference.

In Jakarta, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto
praised the Garuda crew for safely evacuating the passengers
under difficult circumstances.

"They worked just like at the training center. They were also
capable of working together with the rescue team of the Fukuoka
airport in the evacuation effort," Haryanto was quoted by Antara
as saying.

The Garuda office in Jakarta said 12 people from the crashed
plane were still in hospitals. Pilot Longdong is in Kimura
Surgery Hospital while his copilot Yudhia Putra is at Kyuhu
University hospital. The other 10 were all Japanese passengers.